Will Sri Sri be able to save AAP?

Will Sri Sri be able to save AAP?

With an aim to revive its original movement, 55 members of the Aam Aadmi Party have turned to the spiritual guru. Vicky Nanjappa reports

Is it the end of road for the Aam Aadmi Party? With fifty-five members contemplating to quit the party, it is struggling to keep itself afloat.

A group of desperate AAP members have now turned to spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to help the party overcome the exodus crisis. They gather regularly at the Art of Living centre in Bangalore, where they hold consultations with the guru.

At the ‘Save AAP’ initiative, which started on Friday, a host of issues were discussed. A major problem was the dictatorial nature of the central leadership. AAP members urged Sri Sri to have a word with its top leaders and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare to bring the party back on track.

However, The Art of Living has said that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is in no way involved in the process.

"Many conflict resolutions happen at The Art of Living. A few AAP members had come to AoL for the first time and we only provided them a venue," Karthik Krishna from The Art of Living informed by email.

Will Sri Sri be able to save AAP?

The 55 rebels are expecting members from other units to join them. Justice Santosh Hegde, who was part of the Anna Hazare movement, is likely to back them, say insiders.

The ‘Save AAP’ campaign is a spearheaded by expelled AAP member Ashwin‎I Upadhyaya. “The discussions are about the failure of the party in the elections and also how to take it forward. We want to bring the old team back,” he said.

But not everybody is convinced. “It is a move by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to split the party. Why else would they gather at the Art of Living,” a member of AAP Bangalore unit told rediff.com.

Will Sri Sri be able to save AAP?

Rubbishing the allegations, Upadhyaya said, “The venue cannot be the reason for the RSS to be involved. If you recollect, when the Anna Hazare movement commenced a lot of members from Art of Living had taken part. We want to revive the original movement.”

The ‘Save AAP’ campaign is expected to gain more steam in the days to come. Currently, most of its members are from the party’s Karnataka and Tamil Nadu units. “There are a good number who are very upset with the manner in which the party is functioning,” an AAP member said.

However, Prithvi Reddy, the head of the AAP in Karnataka, said that there was no problem within the party. “As per my information, only two from Karnataka were part of this campaign. And those who have initiated this movement are self-styled leaders. I would not read much into it,” he insisted.

Image: Rebel AAP members want Sri Sri to convince Anna Hazare to bring the party back on track